WINGATE, N.C. – The Newberry College men’s basketball team came up short on Wednesday evening against the Wingate Bulldogs inside Cuddy Arena 78-76.

Mitch Riggs paced the way with 22 points on 4-of-7 from 3-point range and 9-of-19 from the floor. He also tallied four rebounds for the Wolves.

2:23 into the second half Wingate stretched its lead to 13 points following a jumper from Xavier Griffin. Newberry was able to the trim the lead to four points after a 3-point bucket from Riggs, before the Bulldogs pulled ahead by nine points.

Throughout the second half the Wolves trimmed the deficit to two possessions on multiple occasions before Wingate extended the lead to double digits. With 2:32 remaining the Bulldogs led by eight points following a Griffin layup before Newberry embarked on its final rally attempt.

At 2:21 mark, Demarkus Smith connected on a left-handed layup which trimmed the deficit to six. Following a full timeout, the Wolves forced Griffin to step out of bounds which gave Newberry possession at 2:19. Following a missed shot from Riggs, Xavier Holmes was able to rise above the Wingate defenders and tip-in the rebound, trimming Newberry’s deficit to four points.

With 67 seconds remaining Holmes came up big on the defensive side of play as he blocked a Griffin layup attempt, which led to a quick 3-point basket from Riggs. Trailing by one Holmes blocked Wingate’s Ryan Daye which gave Newberry a chance to take the lead. The Wolves failed to connect on two more shot attempts as time expired.

In the first half Newberry was led by James Stepp who tallied nine points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from long distance and contributed three rebounds. James Ashby and Riggs added six points apiece for the Wolves in the first half.

Newberry trailed by two points at 12-10 before Wingate erupted on a 22-8 run to claim a 16 point advantage, 34-18 with 7:56 remaining in the half. Newberry used a slim 11-8 advantage, capped off by a Stepp 3-point buzzer-beater shot, to close the Bulldogs lead to eight at halftime, 48-40.

The Scarlet and Gray return home on Saturday afternoon as they play No. 1 Lincoln Memorial inside Eleazer Arena with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.